How to Fight a TEPO (Temporary Emergency Protective Order) in Texas After a Family Violence Arrest
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT A TEMPORARY EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE ORDER IN TEXAS AFTER AN ARREST FOR FAMILY VIOLENCE?
In Texas, if you have been arrested for a family violence offense, you almost certainly have a Temporary Emergency Protective Order (“TEPO”), against you. A TEPO is almost automatic when there is an arrest for family violence in Texas.
What is a Temporary Emergency Protective Order in Texas?
A TEPO is a court order that puts serious restrictions on you after you have been arrested for a family violence offense. The purpose of a TEPO is to give the alleged victim of family violence time to make arrangements to leave the alleged abuser, if they want to do that, and to provide a cooling off period that will hopefully prevent more family violence.
By law, typical provisions include:
-Communicating With the Alleged Victim and Their Family. Restrictions include your ability to communicate, directly or indirectly, with the alleged victim or the alleged victim’s family. These restrictions might only prohibit threatening communications, but if a magistrate judge finds “good cause,” they can include a complete ban on communications.
-Going Near the Alleged Victim or Their Family. TEPOs usually prevent the restricted person from going to or near the residence or workplace of the alleged victim or their family. TEPOs can also prohibit the restricted person from tracking or following the alleged victim or their family.
-Possessing a Firearm. TEPOs usually prohibit a restricted person from possessing a firearm. If you own guns, this means you will usually have to give them to another person who does not live with you to hold while you are subject to the TEPO.
Texas law allows a magistrate judge to enter a TEPO against you when you have your first appearance before a magistrate judge after your arrest. There is no requirement of a formal hearing before the magistrate judge enters a TEPO. Therefore, you do not have the right to argue to the magistrate judge that you should not be subject to a TEPO, and you do not have the right to have a lawyer to represent you in front of the magistrate judge.
A violation of a TEPO can be punished as a crime. If a judge rules that you violated one, you can be thrown in jail. You do not want to violate a TEPO. If you ever think to yourself, “I know it says I can’t do this, but come on. How can they say I can’t do this?,” you are heading for trouble. Talk to a lawyer. Depending on what you are trying to do, the lawyer may be able to work out an accommodation for you in the right way, but you should never decide it’s not a big deal to violate the TEPO.
How Will a Temporary Emergency Protective Order Affect You?
Unless the TEPO has a specific exception, there is no exception. If you are prohibited from going to your home, you are prohibited from going to your home for any reason. If you need to get clothes or things from you home, you will need to make arrangements to get those things without going to your home. You might need a friend to help you pick up the things you need, but you cannot just go home because you decide you need to go home.
Similarly, if you are prohibited from going to your home, you will need to find somewhere else to stay while the TEPO is in effect. That can be with family, a friend, or in a hotel, but you must immediately find somewhere else to stay. You do not get one free overnight stay at home.
How Long Does a Temporary Emergency Protective Order Last?
A TEPO can last from 30 to 60 days, but it can last from 60 to 90 days if serious bodily injury occurred or if a firearm was used or exhibited.
However, even if a TEPO expires, your bond conditions still apply. If you bonded out of jail after your arrest, you were probably given a set of written conditions for your bond. These conditions tell you that you are released on bond, but you have to comply with the conditions to remain out on bond. If you violate those conditions, a judge can order that you be taken into custody. If a TEPO expires, this has no effect on your bond conditions. Your bond conditions might still prohibit you from doing something that the TEPO also prohibited. Check your bond conditions before you decide to do something the TEPO prohibited.
How Can I Fight A Temporary Emergency Protective Order?
If you are under a TEPO, you have the right to ask the magistrate judge who issued it or the judge in your criminal case to modify the order. However, in order to get a modification, you have to prove the following:
(1) the order as originally issued is unworkable;
(2) the modification will not place the victim of the offense at greater risk than did the original order; and
(3) the modification will not in any way endanger a person protected under the order.
“Unworkable” does not mean “inconvenient.” Also, the mere fact that the alleged victim does not want the TEPO does not mean that it will be modified. In fact, TEPO’s are often entered without any input from the alleged victim at all.
If you are subject to a TEPO and you want it to be modified, it is critical that you consult an experienced lawyer who can assist you. Unless you can definitively prove that it is literally impossible that you committed the alleged family violence, such as by proving you were out of the country when it allegedly occurred, you are probably going to have to request changes to the order rather than asking that it be lifted altogether. An experienced family violence defense lawyer can help you formulate realistic proposed modifications that a judge might accept that can achieve your goals.
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[1] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292.
[2] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(c)(2).
[3] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292 (c)(3).
[4] The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutionality of such restrictions against a Second Amendment challenge in United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024).
[5] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(c)(4).
[6] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(a).
[7] See Tex. Penal Code §25.07 (a violation of a TEPO is a Class A misdemeanor).
[8] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(j).
[9] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(j), (n).
[10] See Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 17.292(a) (stating that the magistrate judge can enter a TEPO on her or his own without anyone’s request or at the request of the prosecutor, and not requiring the alleged victim’s input).
Watch the latest video by John Helms on Family Violence
source: https://johnhelms.attorney/how-to-fight-a-tepo-temporary-emergency-protective-order-in-texas-after-a-family-violence-arrest/
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